Translate default | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish Definition of default
noun
1failure to fulfill an obligation, especially to repay a loan or appear in a court of law:it will have to restructure its debts to avoid default the deteriorating economy pushed defaults to almost $20 billion
2a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer:the default is fifty lines [as modifier]:default settings [usually as modifier] something that is usual or standard:all my life, envy has been my default emotion SSRIs have become the default for adults with depression
verb
[no object] 1fail to fulfill an obligation, especially to repay a loan or to appear in a court of law:some had defaulted on student loans [with object] declare (a party) in default and give judgment against that party:the possibility that cases would be defaulted and defendants released
2 (
default to)
(of a computer program or other mechanism) revert automatically to (a preselected option):when you start a fresh letter, the system will default to its own style
